Netflix apologizes for racy 'Cuties' poster criticized for sexualizing young female children

Throughout nearly six months of quarantining, in some small way Netflix has felt like a savior in offering an entertainment-starved nation an endless string of new content, including the Chris Hemsworth thriller Extraction, Spike Lee’s latest joint Da 5 Bloods, Charlize Theron’s supernatural actioner The Old Guard and the ubiquitous Tiger King.

The streaming giant was in hot water Thursday, though, and forced to apologize for marketing imagery used for their upcoming dance drama, Cuties, after it was widely criticized for sexualizing children.

The poster for the French-language film features four young skin-bearing girls, some in seductive poses that look straight out of a Cardi B video.

The backlash came quickly online, both through social media as well as a Change.org petition, urging Netflix to remove the title from its service receiving over 60,000 signatures.

“The thing about the Netflix campaign for Cuties is how disgustingly sexualized these girls are. Compare the poster and blurb from Netflix versus the ones on IMDb, s*** is as different as night and day,” wrote Weekend Warrior on Twitter. “Someone should get fired.” Weekend Warrior was far from alone.

Netflix apologized for its marketing gaffe soon after the criticism poured in for Cuties, which is known as Mignonnes in France and won the World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award when it premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in January.

“We're deeply sorry for the inappropriate artwork that we used for Mignonnes/Cuties,” the streamer issued by tweet. “It was not OK, nor was it representative of this French film which won an award at Sundance. We’ve now updated the pictures and description.”

As IndieWire notes, the film — directed by French-Senegalese filmmaker Ma?mouna Doucouré — uses its “storyline to openly criticize the ways in which society puts pressure on young girls to be overtly sexual.” The coming-of-age tale stars Fathia Youssouf as Amy, an 11-year-old girl from a strict Senegales-Muslim family who joins a free-spirited dance clique named “Cuties.” According to the film’s official synopsis, the Cuties become aware of their own femininity through dance.

The original American poster then, was likely intended to center those themes, if in an obviously poorly conceived misstep.

Other users on social media have noted the stark contrast between the American and French posters.

Cuties is scheduled for release Sept. 9 on Netflix.

Watch the trailer:

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